In particular, the refillable bottle enables a liquid product to be dispensed, for example a cosmetic care, makeup or fragrance product or a pharmaceutical product.
The refillable bottle includes a body in which a container for packaging the product is formed, as well as a device for dispensing the packaged product, which is mounted in a sealed manner on said body. In particular, the dispensing device can include extraction means in the form of a manually actuated pump that is supplied with the packaged product, said pump being arranged so as to dispense the pressurized product, for example in the form of an aerosol. Alternatively, the dispensing device can include means for applying the product, for example in the form of a bead.
In one example of application, the refillable bottles according to the invention enable product samples to be dispensed, in particular for a product volume packaged in the container that is between 1 and 10 ml. In particular, the samples thus dispensed can enable a client to test the product, the bottles then being qualified as test sample bottles. Alternatively, the bottles can be “for bags” in that they enable a reduced volume of product to be carried easily, by contrast with bottles containing a larger volume, which are generally heavy and bulky because they are large.
In these applications, for example, for logistical reasons, practicality or environmental recycling reasons, it may be desirable to be capable of refilling the container with product from a source of said product. Indeed, it is impractical for a user to refill the container using a small funnel, and non-environmentally friendly to throw away an empty bottle in order to replace it with a full refill container.
Refillable bottles have already been offered for sale, in which the body is equipped with a valve for refilling the container that is arranged so as to enable a product source to be placed in communication with said container in order for the latter to be refilled. In particular, the valve includes a passage for communication between the source and the container, said passage having a seat equipped with a valve element that is mobile with respect to said seat between a sealed position of closing and a position of opening said passage.
To perform the refilling, the prior art proposes using a source bottle including a dispensing pump, the valve element being moved by means of the spray nozzle of said pump. In particular, the sealed contact of the spray nozzle on the valve element enables said valve element to be reversibly opened, and the pump to be actuated in order to inject the source product into the container through the valve.
However, this embodiment requires the pushbutton provided on the spray nozzle of the pump of the source bottle to be removed first, and said spray nozzle to be actuated several times in order to inject a sufficient volume of product, which is difficult and non-intuitive for the user. In addition, improper replacement of the pushbutton on the spray nozzle after refilling is potentially detrimental to the subsequent proper operation of the source bottle.
Moreover, this embodiment presents problems of sealing during refilling, in particular because of the difficulty of properly positioning the spray nozzle in sealed contact on the valve element and the pressure of injection of the product through the valve. In addition, the valves according to the prior art are not compatible with the different commercial spray nozzle configurations, which limits the possibilities of refilling a bottle equipped with such a valve, unless a set of adaptors is provided, which further complicates the sealed refilling.